The Las Vegas Aces will open their pursuit of a three-peat as WNBA champions against the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday night at Michelob Ultra Arena.
WNBA
The Aces are favored at the Westgate SuperBook to win their third consecutive WNBA championship. The New York Liberty are the second choice.
Sportsbooks saw three straight record handles for women’s basketball games in Caitlin Clark’s final three college contests, and they expect interest to remain high on her in the WNBA.
In a much-anticipated matchup of superteams, the Aces opened as favorites over the New York Liberty to win the WNBA Finals.
The Aces are even-money favorites at the SuperBook to repeat as WNBA champions and the Liberty are the +110 second choice, with the Mystics a distant third pick.
The Aces, 14-point favorites over Phoenix in Wednesday’s WNBA playoff opener, are the No. 1 seed and the +160 favorites at the Westgate SuperBook to win the title.
The Celtics already were the 6-1 favorites to win the NBA title when it was reported Monday that they’d been in talks with the Nets about a trade for Kevin Durant.
Losing All-Star center Liz Cambage has inadvertently helped the Aces, off to the best start in franchise history and even-money favorites to win the WNBA title.
Circa was the first sportsbook to post the total, which opened at 248½ before dropping to 195½ as bettors pounded the under in the matchup of the U.S. Olympic team and WNBA All-Stars.
The league’s odds did not shuffle after Friday’s draft, with Las Vegas still leading the pack, followed by the defending champion Washington Mystics.
The Gaming Control Board OK’d betting Thursday, but it was unclear whether sportsbooks would have wagers available before the draft begins Friday.
Las Vegas, which lost in the semifinals last season, leads a clear division between the top six teams in the league and the bottom six.
Las Vegas ascended to the 5-2 favorite to claim the WNBA crown after acquiring 6-foot-8-inch center Liz Cambage, last season’s MVP runner-up, from Dallas.
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